Yesterday evening, activists from NGO Repubblika, and members of the public gathered once again at the Great Siege Square in Valletta on 16 March for the monthly vigil in memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia, renewing calls for truth, justice and accountability nearly nine years after her assassination.
Addressing the gathering, activist Manuel Delia said that the continued presence of people at the vigil “means that we have not given up,” stressing that the persistence of the monthly event is itself a form of resistance against indifference and fear. He warned that in many parts of the world, the memory of those who speak out against corruption fades quickly, allowing criminality to thrive on silence and fatigue.
This year’s vigil also coincided with the international day of remembrance for innocent victims of organised crime. In a separate address, Orsetta Spinola of CHANCE Malta said that the gathering marked “one hundred and one months” of citizens coming together, not out of routine but because “democracy sometimes needs reminders. Loud ones.”
Both speakers linked Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination to a broader system of corruption and impunity. Delia described her as a victim of a system “where crime found protection, allies and silence,” while Spinola said she “was not killed only by the men who placed the bomb under her car” but by “a system where organised crime felt comfortable enough… to silence a journalist.”
Spinola warned that organised crime thrives “in grey zones” and in environments where citizens become indifferent, adding that corruption ultimately “costs lives. Sometimes literally. Like Daphne’s.” She also stressed that democracy requires active participation, stating that “democracy is not a spectator sport” and depends on citizens who are willing to challenge power and demand accountability.
Delia echoed this sentiment, arguing that the demand for justice goes beyond court verdicts or individual convictions, and that the central question remains how the system that enabled the assassination was allowed to develop. He criticised ongoing institutional failures and attempts to weaken public memory of the events of 2017, insisting that “memory is not nostalgia… memory is a form of responsibility.”
The vigil concluded with a renewed commitment by participants to continue meeting monthly. Spinola invoked the anti-mafia motto “memory becomes commitment,” calling for continued efforts to defend democratic institutions, support independent journalism and ensure that Malta does not become a place where organised crime can operate with impunity.
Newsroom
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